Sony reveals prices for Xperia Z5 family, and they're a bit insane

Sony has captured the attention of smartphone fans worldwide with its new Xperia Z5 Premium flagship, the first smartphone with a 4K display. Since the company is not doing exactly well in terms of sales, offering this very intriguing device at a price that undercuts its main rivals looks like a great opportunity to attract more new customers and gain some market share. It would be the logical thing to do.

Sony, however, went with a different strategy, which is to sell Xperia Z5 Premium and its less-premium sibling, Xperia Z5, at some pretty insane prices. The only device that is more reasonably priced is Xperia Z5 Compact, but even so it still seems to cost too much. And it is likely not to be as relevant to consumers given the smaller screen it packs -- a larger screen is an important feature to those who shop in the high-end segment, after all.

In Germany, those who are interested in Xperia Z5 Premium will have to shell out €800 to get one, which is as much as they can expect to pay for the entry-level iPhone 6 Plus now; an iPhone 6s Plus, in the base trim, will probably cost as much, once it goes on sale likely later this month.

If you compare it to, say Samsung's new Galaxy S6 edge Plus, you'll (again) find that Xperia Z5 Premium costs roughly the same, but does not have the same carrier support as Samsung does. What's more, when pitted against LG's new G4, Xperia Z5 Premium is roughly €200 more expensive.

Xperia Z5, which is not as interesting, can be had for €100 less, which puts it on the same playing field as iPhone 6 (and iPhone 6s, when it will go on sale). Samsung's Galaxy S6 is €100 cheaper, if not more depending on where you get it from, and it has received stellar reviews so far, just like iPhone 6. G4 is not to shabby either, especially considering the price and value advantages it has over either Xperia Z5.

Of course, if we bring other brands into discussion, like OnePlus, it is even harder to see the value proposition in Sony's new premium smartphones, as the former's OnePlus 2 can be had from just €399 for the top-of-the-line model. Same goes for other high-end devices from brands like Xiaomi.

Like I said in the second paragraph, Xperia Z5 Compact is more reasonably priced. It costs "only" €550, which does not seem all that bad when compared to the other devices in the Xperia Z5 family until you look at how much offerings from the likes of LG and Samsung cost.

Now, if consumers were enamored with Sony's smartphones, the fact that they are more expensive than most competitors would not be much of an issue. But, given that Sony is not even in the top five, not adjusting its strategy to the realities of the smartphone market is a recipe for disaster.

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